I Need Warmth
by kalyn19
Summary: The gang goes to the Fire Nation for a gathering. Unexpected twists start happening, and Katara finds herself in dire need of warmth.


Hello guys! I know it's been a long time and I'm sorry! I'm in college now, taking up BS Architecture in the University of the Philippines, so, yay! Anyway, I was doing a plate when the cramps were too much to bear, so I crawled back to bed and turned on my laptop. The pain was so intense that I kept hallucinating for a hot compress. So thus, the story was born. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA

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**I Need Warmth**

A Two Shot

Chapter 1

_This can't be happening_, she thought. _This just can't be happening._

She paced around the room nervously, fidgeting with her red terry cloth robe. She was just about to take a bath when a familiar knot settled at the bottom of her stomach. She bit her lip.

_How horrible can the timing be?_ she desperately asked herself.

It was the third day of their one-week-a-month visit to the Fire Nation. The tradition was started just a month after the war. It was Aang who thought of it. As far as excuses go, this one was the best, full-proof alibi he could think of to get the gang all together.

That isn't, of course, what he said to the council of the Fire Nation when he proposed the idea.

"The Fire Nation has made many enemies in the past century of war," he began, "The whole world, in fact. I propose that there should be a week in a month or two when a representative of each nation would stay at the Fire Nation palace. There will be meetings to reassure the people of the Fire nation that the different nations have, indeed, forgiven them of their transgressions. The Fire Nation, as well, would go and reassure the people of the world that they mean no more harm whatsoever, and that they want peace and harmony to be restored to the world."

The council grew silent. Their gaze shifted to the end oh the table. Aang followed suit and looked expectantly at the Fire Lord.

Zuko gave him a quizzical look, his hands folded just below his nose, in a gesture they took as thinking. What he was really doing was hiding the smirk that pulled at his lips.

The Avatar looked determined for his proposition to be approved, but it was all for show. He told Zuko all about his plan to get the gang back together.

The council looked anxious as to what the Fire Lord might say. It was either they really wanted to know, or they really wanted the meeting to end so they can get on with their lives.

"And who do you suppose would be willing to go to the Fire Nation and stay for a week?" Zuko asked, seemingly amused.

Aang shrugged. "I know a handful of people."

The handful of people turned out to be Aang himself, representing the Air Nomads, Toph Bei Fong and Suki representing the Earth Kingdom, and Katara representing the Water Tribe. Sokka could only come along a few times, for he has some restoration to do in their village.

This week, both the water tribe siblings came along.

The minute she stepped on Appa's saddle, she knew that something bad was about to happen. Katara couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she knew it would bite her in the behind sooner or later.

And it turned out sooner rather than later.

When they landed in the Fire Nation three days ago, a festival was going on. All of them weren't familiar with the Holiday Calendar there, though, so they opted to ask Iroh once they got to the palace.

"My, my! It's good to see all of you again!" Iroh exclaimed when they all went in for a hug.

"It's good to see you, too, Iroh," Toph said playfully. They all let go to find Iroh blushing. He was supposed to apologize for his choice of words when Katara spoke up.

"What is all the festivity about?" she asked, referring to the red and gold banners hanging on the walls.

Iroh blinked. "Zuko didn't tell you?"

Katara raised her eyebrow. "Tell us what?"

"He's getting married in two weeks," a calm voice answered from behind them.

All of them turned towards the voice.

Just as she stopped turning, Katara felt a knot in the bottom of her stomach. Her face paled suddenly, and her eyes widened with the realization.

Mai stood at the doorway, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. She had a blush on her face that told them she was happy. She has to be, for it was the first time they heard her say something out loud without anyone cajoling her to do so.

Everybody rushed to congratulate her, except for Katara, who seemed rooted to the ground.

Mai thanked each and everyone of them with as much enthusiasm as she could give, which was not much except for a warm smile and her tinted cheeks. With everyone asking for details of the marriage, she didn't notice Katara until Iroh asked her what the matter was.

"I'm sorry. Will you excuse me?" was all she said as she walked out from the gang and into the palace with the stiffest walk Mai had ever seen.

And that was saying something.

"Is Katara okay?" Aang asked, worry in his voice.

"Maybe Sugar Queen didn't take the news so well," Toph mused, delibirately teasing Aang and unknowingly setting Mai on the curious side.

Sokka and Suki looked at each other in confusion. Aang's jaw dropped. Mai's face turned cold and distant. Iroh's eyes widened at the possibility.

Toph sighed. Nobody seemed taken with her joke. "Come on guys! I was kidding! Lighten up, will you? Sheesh."

"Oh," was what Aang said, then he chuckled nervously. He hoped to Agni it really was a joke, for at the back of his head the Ember Island Players' adaptation of their story seemed to nag at him.

Mai blinked. "I didn't find it funny at all," was her brutally honest reply. Her voice seemed to have a cold tone.

Sokka was slow to follow, and assuming everybody would think of him as smart if he got Toph's joke, he started to laugh. "Ha ha, good one Toph!" It only gained him weird stares from Suki and Iroh.

"Chill guys, we all know at one point Katara hated Zuko's guts, right? There's no way she suddenly turned all that hate into love just because Zuko dove in at the last minute to save her from Azula's lightning bolt."

Aang really wished Toph would stop talking. She was making things worse by adding all these quips. The sad part was, it was actually starting to make sense to Aang... and to Mai as well.

Sokka didn't seem to sense the tension in the air. "Speaking of which, where is Zuko?"

* * *

"Excuse me, do you know where Zuko is?" Katara asked the first guard she came by.

The new guard raised an eyebrow at her lack of proper title. He decided this was one of those foreign nobles who wanted to 'have a talk' with Zuko, so he decided to lie. "The Fire Lord is in a meeting right now and cannot be disturbed."

"Will the meeting end any time soon?" she asked a little hurriedly. She almost sounded eager.

"No, ma'am, I'm afraid not."

"Good," was all she said as she patted him on the shoulder before she took off. She shouted a thank you over her shoulder.

The guard shook his head. He didn't understand any of these nobles at all.

Katara rushed through the hallways, tugging at her memory for the location of the Fire Lord's chamber. It was the only place in the palace guaranteed to contain everything you could ever need. And right now she had a feeling that she was going to find what she needed in there.

Her memory came through, and she found herself standing infront of crimson and gold double doors. She grabbed the golden handles and pushed with all her might.

Her face of victory turned into a face of horror when she saw what, or rather who, was inside the room.

"Katara!" Zuko exclaimed, a little anger and a lot of surprise in his voice. "What do you think you're doing?" He was in the middle of reading one of hundreds of parchments sent to him from the various villages, inside and out of the Fire Nation. It was proving to be a difficult task, and he was about to scream of frustration before Katara burst in.

It was a shock, yes, but he was actually glad she was here. It gave him a reason to stop reading.

"Zuko!" was all she could reply, shock evident in her voice. She ignored his question and exclaimed her own. "What are you doing here?"

"These are my chambers," he pointed out, glaring through squinted eyes. "The real question is, what are you doing here?"

She gulped. She tried to hide her embarrassment - she'd go out cold before admitting Zuko caught her sneaking around - and cleared her throat. "It's the week-a-month visit to the Fire Nation again." It was all she offered for an explanation. Zuko wanted more. He waited.

Katara said nothing.

He urged her. "Katara, that still doesn't explain why you came barging in here."

The waterbender looked down. "Yeah well... I came looking for you." Woah, did that just leave her mouth?

Zuko looked taken aback. "Really? What for?"

Katara bit her lip, looking for an excuse. Then she found it. She looked up at him with a smile that took more energy than it should. "To congratulate you on your engagement." She walked up to him. He stood up. She got so close that she unconsciously stepped on his foot.

"Ouch!" he yelped. He stepped back and bumped into his study table. "What was that for?"

"For not telling me that you were getting married! I thought we were friends! Or did you suddenly run out of hawks to send messages?" Katara was fuming. She didn't know why, but she was suddenly venting out her frustration on Zuko. A frustration that she didn't know she had.

Zuko blushed. It was true he failed to tell her about his engagement. In fact, he failed to tell all of his friends.

"Well?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. The problem she had was nagging at her, but she pushed it at the back of her mind.

He sighed. "I don't have time for this," he said in an exasperating tone, turning his back on her while he waited for her to explode. He missed playful banter. His life now was full of seriousness, and everybody thought he preffered it, but truth be told, he missed goofing around with the gang.

"Oh sure you don't!" was her annoyed reply. "You don't have time for anything anymore! I mean, is it too much to ask for a letter when one of your friends makes a life changing decision? Something like, I don't know, getting married?" Oh Agni, where was she getting all this stuff? Maybe it was because her hormones were acting up, making her moody.

Zuko laughed. A whole hearted laugh that caught Katara off guard. Suddenly another set of hormones were acting up.

He turned around, hiding a smile that was there only seconds ago. "Where are Aang and the others?"

Katara stuttered. "The-they're outside, congratulating Mai." _Mai! Oh no_, Katara forgot to congratulate her. She was so caught up with what she felt that she didn't even think about it.

The Fire Lord saw her expression change and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I forgot to greet Mai," she said, and it sounded like the wind got knocked out of her. She threw her hands up as she sat on the side of the bed. "I can't believe I was rude."

Zuko raised his eyebrow at her with a look that said '_Really, now_?' It earned him a glare from the waterbender.

"Don't worry about it," Zuko shrugged, "She's not the type of girl to read too much into things."_ She's not the type of girl to read into anything at all_, he silently added.

"But still!" Katara argued, clenching the sheets under her fists. Once again her mood had shifted. Now she felt sad and depressed. "Mai's gonna hate me now," she glumly stated.

Zuko shook his head, either because he disagreed or what nobody would know. "She hates everything, don't take it personally."

Katara looked at him with her watery blue eyes. She didn't know why, but she felt so pathetic, so insecure. "She doesn't hate you,"

The Fire Lord blushed, rubbing his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, well, I'm her fiance, so..." He trailed off.

Suddenly, the problem at the back of Katara's mind was ringing alarm bells, and she felt the same knot in her stomach again. She turned around and bit her lip to prevent it from quivering.

"Katara?" Zuko asked, confusion and growing concern in his voice. "Is everything okay?"

The waterbender nodded, but she didn't turn around. Clutching her stomach, she wished she could dull the pain that was in it. She needed something, anything to make it stop. It was driving her to tears.

Zuko moved away from his study table, approaching her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Katara turned her head towards him. "Yes, I'm sure!" she snapped, a scrowl on her face. "Ju-just leave m-me alon-ne!" Unshed tears were making her blue eyes glisten.

Used to her attitude by now, Zuko was the least bit intimidated. He stepped closer, ignoring the death glare Katara was giving him. He sat right next to her on the side of the bed, and she just turned away again.

"Katara," he began, but he got cut off.

"Just... just go, Zuko." She didn't need this. Having Zuko here was the least she needed right now. What she needed was to be alone, so she can calmly arrange herself and confront the problem.

"No," he said sternly. Sure, he was a bit curious and afraid, but he wanted to be a good friend. Besides, he was here already, wasn't he?

Katara cursed under her breath at his stubbornness. Any other man with half a brain would have just let her be, but he just had to be an exception. _Oh, Agni! Why'd it have to be this way?_

"Katara," he said softly, "Do you need anything?" He knew what Katara was going to say, so he rephrased his question. "Do you need anything other me out of the room?"

_But that's exactly what I need!_ Katara wanted to shout so badly. With him in here, she can't think straight, much less execute what she planned to do. And there was no way she can see Zuko helping her in this...

Katara's eyes widened at a sudden realization. _Maybe Zuko really was good for something after all_.

Zuko waited patiently for her to reply. He felt a bit awkward, though, sitting next to her on the side of the bed.

"Zuko," she weakly called.

He thought he heard her whisper his name, and suddenly the awkward he felt grew. He gulped.

Katara turned to him, a pleading look on her face. "I need warmth,"

That was the last thing Zuko had expected to hear. He might have anticipated comebacks like "Go away or I'll throw you out," or "Get a life!". Either way he had subconsiously prepared a retort, but she had caught him off guard.

Realizing he must have looked like an idiot staring at her, he asked, "What?"

"I need warmth, Zuko," she repeated, a bit of irritation in her voice. "Give me your hand,"

Zuko just stared at her, like he coudn't believe what was happening. It was so weird. The awkwardness he felt was so strong, he regretted not taking Katara's advice and leaving.

"Zuko," Katara called, her palm waiting for his hand. "Give me your hand!"

"Wha- why-" Before he could formulate a coherent question, the waterbender took his hand in hers, palm up. Zuko's eyes widened.

It got even wider when Katara placed it on her stomach.

He wanted to take his hand away, but the feel of her hand on his prevented him. He wanted to shout '_What do you think you are doing?_' but his lips refused to cooperate.

"Now, warm up your palm..." she instructed, closing her eyes as she furrowed her brows.

"What?"

"Just do it!" she snapped. "Use your fire bending or something! Just warm up your palm, but not too much to burn me!"

Zuko couldn't believe it. Even in the most awkward of situations, Katara still managed to be bossy and snappish and... well... be herself.

With nothing else to do, he did as told. After a few moments, he saw Katara's face relax and a smie crept up her lips.

"That feels nice," she whispered. "Thanks, Zuko!"

He didn't know what to say. Everything was so bizzarre. "Uhm, you're welcome?"

"What is going on here?"

They turned to the door to see the gang, all with shocked and puzzled expressions.

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Well, there you have it! My, my, I'm being productive for someone who supposedly has writer's block! Anyway, part two coming up soon!

Please review and tell me what you think!

Thanks for reading!

~kalyn19


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